The debut recording by The Ancients, the intergenerational coalition of Isaiah Collier, William Hooker, & William Parker formed by parker to play concerts in conjunction with the milford graves mind body deal exhibition at the institute of contemporary art los angeles & now a working group. across x2LPs of side-length long-form improvised sets recorded at 2220 arts & archives in LA & the chapel in San Francisco, The Ancients bring the free jazz trio languages first explored by the Cecil Taylor Unit & Ornette Coleman’s -Golden Circle- band (expanded upon in later eras by Sam Rivers' Trio & Parker’s collective trios with Charles Gayle/Graves & Peter Brötzmann/Hamid Drake) into their own unique & scintillating realms of expression.
As we tumble further into the throes of history’s tides, people of hope & creativity rely on the works of our great artists to lift our spirits & focus our resolve. -ascension- was recorded less than a year after the passage of the civil rights act & four months after the assassination of Malcolm X. -journey in satchidananda- was recorded the month reagan was re-elected governor of California. M’boom made its debut recording weeks after the watergate scandal broke & a couple months after the wounded knee occupation ended. The music of the ancients builds on these great musical legacies. it resounds with the pride of survival & the joys of making & sharing music. It delivers to us hope & balm. something real in you, real in history, & real in the music is shared, right on time.
When Eremite records commenced operations during the 1990s free jazz resurgence, heavyweight freedom-seeking tenor saxophonists such as Fred Anderson, Peter Brötzmann, Charles Gayle, Kidd Jordan, & David S. Ware were at the height of their powers. Isaiah Collier’s tenor playing in the ancients is bracing testimony that the wellspring lives on. to hear the young chicago firebrand blowing freely with veteran improvisers in an entirely open-form group music is a revelatory study of his vast talent, personal voice, & the intensity of his expression —as well as a bold complement to his composition-based albums as a bandleader (including -the almighty-, a new york times' best albums of 2024 selection).
I've admired drummer William hooker since first encountering his music in a hartford ct city park, early ‘90s (on a double bill with Jerry González & Fort Apache Band). From the man himself right off the bandstand i bought his even-then rare 1st recording, the 1976 self-released x2LP opus -is eternal life- (reissued 2019 by superior viaduct). An imposing force on his instrument & an intrepid DIY cat, Hooker’s been exuberantly swinging in&out of free time for 50+ years. informed by the innovations of Sunny Murray & Tony Williams yet entirely himself, there is no other term for it than “pure hooker.” at age 78, with the ancients & everywhere else, THE HOOK is in peak form.
With a discography approaching 600 entries & 50+ years working across the musical maps, including in the history-defining bands of Don Cherry, Cecil Taylor, Bill Dixon, Peter Brötzmann, in his own wondrous ensembles from small group to orchestra to opera, a bastion of compassionate leadership & a poetic champion of his musical community, in tireless service to what he rather egolessly refers to as “the tone world”, multi-instrumentalist, improviser & composer william parker is a living hero of the grassroots & the black mystery musics, not to mention one of the great bassists in the history of jazz. To quote George Clinton, conquering the stumbling blocks comes easier when the conqueror is in tune with the infinite.
Live to 2-track concert recordings by Bryce Gonzales, Highland Dynamics. Mastered by Joe Lizzi, Queens, NY.
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In 1970, Italian composer Sandro Brugnolini recorded the two psychedelic lounge masterpieces Overground and Underground at Dirmaphon Studios in Rome. Featuring a lineup of some of Italy’s finest musicians—Silvano Chimenti (guitar), Angelo Baroncini (guitar), Giorgio Carnini (organ and piano), Giovanni Tommaso (bass and effects), and Enzo Restuccia (drums)—these sessions were deeply rooted in the late 1960s psychedelic sound but uniquely fused jazz improvisation, funk, and Latin and African rhythms with cinematic melodies.
This fusion defines their distinctive character and cements them as two of Brugnolini’s most impressive works, remaining among the most sought-after artifacts from the golden era of Italian library music. Overground—which Sonor Music Editions reissued in 2024—was originally released as the soundtrack to Persuasione, a documentary commissioned by Ente Provinciale Per Il Turismo Di Trento. Meanwhile, Underground was issued in two separate releases, RT 104 and RT 16, on the library and soundtrack label Record TV Discografica, founded by Alessandro Derevitzky in the late 1950s. In 2014, we compiled both versions for Underground's first-ever reissue (SME 3), featuring the longer version of ”Psichefreèlico" from RT 16, instead of the shorter ”Sostenuto” and ”Ballata" versions from RT 104, along with new artwork. Now, in this 2025 reissue, Underground returns in its original RT 104 attire, with its original track listing and artwork. Sourced and carefully remastered from the original mono tapes and lacquer cut by Jukka Sarapää at Timmion Cutting, this edition features carefully restored Record TV Discografica label design artwork, printed on high-quality card stock.
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Movement and Soul Records is the highly-anticipated imprint, founded by Nonna Fab...
The label aims to capture deeper sounds and meditations in rhythm, spanning spiritual jazz, broken-beat and deeper house.
Nature is Enlightenment is the debut release on the label. With flute, keys, bass and drums from Nonna Fab and saxophonefrom Benjamin Ten-Bruggencate.
The B1, 'TROPIC' invites Kali, lyricist, poet and azz influenced vocalist from Sheffield, accompanied on piano/rhodes by Nonna Fab.
The broken-beat focussed B2,'FLOAT' featuring bassist Tom French and an opening poem, that touches on thecosmos, by Kali.
Multi-instrumentalist, producer, band leader, record collector and party'starter, Nonna Fab has launched the label as a platform to push the sound of his own music, working closely with a range of musicians from the North.
"It's come at the right time for me to allow a space to push a very new, organic sound working with a lot of the musicians I play with regularly, interweaving the sound with dance music."
Nonna Fab is behind audiophile party, Apricot Ballroom, which was named in the top 10 nights in the country in TimeOut Magazine as well as being acknowledged for being a pioneer of northern contemporary jazz by BBC for Footprints. As well as this, Nonna Fab is co-owner of Grub Records, which has been written about in DJMag, Mixmag and Resident Advisor.
"The label is a true hybrid of both live sound and electronic dance music and really allows focus on true communication and expression. I have always appreciated more free-form styles of dance music so it really is a space for me to explore the more expressive andspiritual side of my sound"
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"...When I make music, I'm always trying to create a temporary refuge for myself, a refuge from the increasingly frightening world out there. A kind of remote island where I can hide, switch off for a while, feel at peace. In any case, I feel inner peace when making this music, and I hope, in some way, it does the same for you..."
"Dub Tapes. Volume 2 picks up exactly where its predecessor left off, employing a very similar sonic palette, drawn from analog instruments and effects. All 4 tracks are driven by Lars' live B-line virtuosity. He's played bass for a host of jazz bands and it shows. The bottom-end throughout is a constant, reassuring, warm, womb-like presence, that packs a deceptively powerful pulse. The subtle splashes of studio trickery might have their root in Basic Channel-esque techno, but the results reside somewhere far less minimal, more relaxed, more melodic and musical.
The reverb and delay twisted into soothing, rather than room-shaking shapes. Resembling birdsong and mountain streams.
Lars' piano improvisations are also integral to everything...Stuffed with rich, diverting detail for stoners and siesta seekers, the EP is certainly a set that you're supposed to sit back, settle into and savour."
"All four tracks are superb, the opener 'Ferry From Torkwrith' setting the scene - languorous, beatific Balearic dub from Berlin, music to hide inside, to temporarily block the outside world with.
Second track 'Morning Hour' is slightly more sunlit, a guitar joining the mix. 'Starlings' sets off with birdsong and the thud of a kick drum, a wave of synth chord and some bass guitar, unhurried and mellow.
Fourth track 'Isle Of Stonsey' drifts in, a nine minute excursion into a chilled-out version of space, Hawaiian guitar and dub bass prodding us gently into the cosmos."
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The second of 2 EPs preceding the next FUTURE SOUND OF LONDON album in 2025
Multiple Angle Distortions EP ( M.A.D ) see FSOL moving into a darker percussive electronic soundscape - tinges of 303 acid mix with menacing orchestral compositions, Grammy nominated Daniel Pemberton makes an appearance on “Improvisations” - recorded live at a London fashion show - also recorded live is the final track Northern Point which uses two of FSOL’s own designed synthesizers ….
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On its tenth anniversary outing, Sofia Records doesn’t just mark a milestone - it distills its essence in a four track EP. The compilation reunites the original, 25 year strong, pBPM crew and the fresh talent of Impe´rieux.
KiNK delivers a dancefloor juggernaut “Let The Bass Kink” - raw, kinetic and unmistakably his.
KEi counters with “Killing God Theme“ - a deep, hypnotic slow-burner, rich in emotion that evolves with patient intensity. Then we have the debut of Tegav - a new alias from the pBPM forming member Kalin Baychev with “Stomper“ - an edgy melody on top of a percussive backroom swagger. Impe´rieux, ever the outlier, continues his quest for dance music’s future with “Jarka”, a leftfield yet playful groove that breaks convention while rattling the floor.
With a smiling family snapshot, framed in smoke, strobe light and sweat, Sofia shows how to throw the needle where it matters - squarely pointed to the future.
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Wie ihre berühmten Vorgängerinnen Alice Coltrane und Dorothy Ashby verbindet die Grammy-nominierte Harfenistin Brandee Younger den flirrend schönen Klang ihres Instrumentes mit dem Groove und der Freiheit des Jazz.
Für Younger, die schon mit Pharaoh Sanders, Lauryn Hill, John Legend, Common, The Roots und Ravi Coltrane zusammengearbeitet hat, ist ihr drittes Album für Impulse! Records auch ihr bislang persönlichstes. Alle Kompositionen stammen aus ihrer Feder, mit den mal balladesk melodischen, mal subtil groovenden Tracks beschreibt sie ein Jahr mit für sie tiefgreifenden Veränderungen.
Drei Tracks beinhalten Kollaborationen mit Shabaka, Courtney Bryan und Josh Johnson.
Polar Bear's groundbreaking debut 'Dim Lit' (2004) is being released on vinyl for the first time, marking over two decades since its arrival reshaped the UK jazz landscape
Led by drummer and composer Seb Rochford, the album introduced a band whose fearless approach to improvisation, rhythm, and texture would go on to influence a generation. Blending raw energy with intricate composition, 'Dim Lit' set the blueprint for Polar Bear's signature sound - expansive, unpredictable, and entirely their own.
From the outset, 'Dim Lit' positioned Polar Bear as one of the most forward-thinking groups of their time. The album bridged jazz, electronic elements, and avant- garde sensibilities, carving out a new space in the contemporary music scene. The interplay between Rochford, saxophonists Pete Wareham and Mark Lockheart, bassist Tom Herbert, and electronics specialist Leafcutter John created a dynamic, shape-shifting sound that blurred genre boundaries. With its hypnotic grooves, explosive improvisation, and unexpected sonic detours, 'Dim Lit' remains a vital document of a band redefining what jazz could be.
This first- ever vinyl release offers a new perspective on 'Dim Lit's deep, layered soundscapes, giving longtime fans and new listeners alike the chance to experience the album in a fresh, immersive format. Edition Records now represents all digital rights to the Polar Bear catalogue, ensuring the band's visionary work continues to reach audiences worldwide.
Le Chatroom, a record label established in 2016 by the English producer Kouslin, searches for the missing link between underground bass music and outer national sounds. Its music is defined by the blend of synthetic and organic tones, modern / classic instruments and low- end heavy percussive rhythms.
Pushing artists from all around the globe that share the same love for this newfound sound, Kouslin's aim with Le Chatroom is to promote musical diversity, open-mindedness and experimentation at a time when unity between cultures is crucial. With 'LCR001' the label advances into a new physical environment from which this release should be experienced.
Real talk and native percussion establish the steady climax of 'Brothers', the A-side of Le Chatroom's inaugural wax release. Kouslin cuts through this sediment with a bright flute, before the state of the sound switches into something far darker and meditative. By placing several samples at irregular intervals, the Londoner achieves a fascinating charm that'll unite us all.
Booming bass in 'Gyals' lingers with a steady pace while percy tribal hits forge a raw groove that's far from common. With this movement, the producer from Bristol disintegrates the sense of a generic production and sticks to his true nature. Through this it becomes clear that Galtier has his polyrhythms down to a science.
Londoner Sheik clinches the B-side with a craze that unveils a nearly psychotic sense of sample architecture. Pushing crystal clear 808 kicks in- between the haunting atmospheres and a wall of pressure simply becomes one of his most inventive takes documented on wax. If you love to swerve through a minefield, the odd 'Oxram' would be your favourite pick off this first outline.
The three producers that feature on 'LCR001' pass on their fundamentals to conjure Le Chatroom's philosophy red-handed. Together they do the imprint's name justice by handing over critical bass repertoire that'll excite many!
Epitomising the very best of their hometown’s unparalleled musical heritage, Dames Brown are fully-fledged members of the extended Defected family following the release of slick, funk-filled record ‘What Would You Do?’ in 2021 and features on a number of the label’s vocal house hits. The Detroit trio continuously impress with their exquisite releases, striking lyricism and a hefty dose of house authenticity across their outputs. Now Athena Johnson, Teresa Marbury and LaRae Starr step out to properly introduce themselves to the wax lovers, with Detroit musical icon Amp Fiddler on production duties. Releasing ‘Introducing Dames Brown’ on 7”, this package also includes the Instrumental, as Detroit’s finest deliver a taste of what’s to come on their forthcoming album, capturing funk, house and soul from across the spectrum.
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Possessing one of the greatest jazz voices of all time; a breathy, husky whisper that promised and seduced the listener, before dancing away again with a glance over her shoulder. Much of Billie’s vocal delivery style was hammered out as she sang live in smoky nightclubs, and relied on her ability to improvise. She rose through the ranks of jazz singers during the Swing era until she was collaborating with greats like Count Basie. The tracklist of Body And Soul is a mixture of well-known standards and comparative obscurities Comes Love, They Can’t Take That Away From Me, Darn That Dream and Moonlight In Vermont to name but a few.
Exzellentes Best-Of-Album der australischen Folkrock-Band The Middle East, die nach zwei ausgezeichneten Studioalben Ende der Nuller-/Anfang der Zehnerjahre ("The Recordings Of The Middle East" & " I Want That You Are Always Happy") auseinanderging, um sich 2019 wieder zu vereinen. Die LP "The Songs Of The Middle East" ist ein wunderschönes Zeugnis ihrer Arbeit und Musik und der guten und schlechten Zeiten, die sie erstmals 2023 während ihrer zweiten Reunion-Tour durch die USA als Vorgruppe von Zach Bryan dabei hatten und die jetzt erstmals flächendeckend erhältlich wird.
Don't Die Before You're Dead', AJ Traceys lang erwartetes drittes Album, an dem er mehr als drei Jahre gearbeitet hat, markiert einen Meilenstein in seiner Karriere - seine Rückkehr nach einer selbst gewählten Pause und eine erneute Bestätigung seiner Position als eine der einflussreichsten Stimmen der britischen Musikszene.
Mit einem so deutlichen Titel wie 'Don't Die Before You're Dead' wird sich das Album aller Erwartung nach mit Themen wie Ehrgeiz und Widerstandskraft auseinandersetzen, sowie damit das Leben in vollen Zügen zu genießen - Werte, die AJs Weg von Ladbroke Grove an die Spitze der britischen Rap-Szene bestimmt haben.
Es ist ein reifer Sound des kreativen Westlondoners und ein Moment, in dem AJs Wachstum und Entwicklung in seiner Karriere zum Ausdruck kommt. Die Fans können sich auf ein Werk freuen, das nicht nur seine Entwicklung als Künstler zeigt, sondern auch die Grenzen der britischen Musik weiter verschiebt.
AJ Tracey kann auf zahlreiche Nominierungen für den BRIT Award, einen erstklassigen Auftritt auf der Pyramid Stage in Glastonbury und eine Reihe von Charterfolgen zurückblicken. Seine mit Dreifach-Platin ausgezeichnete Single Ladbroke Grove wurde zur meistverkauften Independent-Single des Jahres 2019. Seine Vielseitigkeit zeigte sich in Kollaborationen mit Jorja Smith, Stormzy, Headie One und Aitch.
Don't Die Before You're Dead', AJ Traceys lang erwartetes drittes Album, an dem er mehr als drei Jahre gearbeitet hat, markiert einen Meilenstein in seiner Karriere - seine Rückkehr nach einer selbst gewählten Pause und eine erneute Bestätigung seiner Position als eine der einflussreichsten Stimmen der britischen Musikszene.
Mit einem so deutlichen Titel wie 'Don't Die Before You're Dead' wird sich das Album aller Erwartung nach mit Themen wie Ehrgeiz und Widerstandskraft auseinandersetzen, sowie damit das Leben in vollen Zügen zu genießen - Werte, die AJs Weg von Ladbroke Grove an die Spitze der britischen Rap-Szene bestimmt haben.
Es ist ein reifer Sound des kreativen Westlondoners und ein Moment, in dem AJs Wachstum und Entwicklung in seiner Karriere zum Ausdruck kommt. Die Fans können sich auf ein Werk freuen, das nicht nur seine Entwicklung als Künstler zeigt, sondern auch die Grenzen der britischen Musik weiter verschiebt.
AJ Tracey kann auf zahlreiche Nominierungen für den BRIT Award, einen erstklassigen Auftritt auf der Pyramid Stage in Glastonbury und eine Reihe von Charterfolgen zurückblicken. Seine mit Dreifach-Platin ausgezeichnete Single Ladbroke Grove wurde zur meistverkauften Independent-Single des Jahres 2019. Seine Vielseitigkeit zeigte sich in Kollaborationen mit Jorja Smith, Stormzy, Headie One und Aitch.
Rando Arand is an Estonian electronic music producer from Tallinn. With a strong foundation in sound design, Arand released his debut record on Asphalt Soliloquies in 2017 and has since captivated audiences at clubs and festivals across the Baltics with his unpredictable and unique live sets. Drawing inspiration from a range of genres such as broken jazz, dubtechno, breakbeat and jungle, Arand incorporates modular synth patches into his performances. He has shared the stage with artists like Dorian Concept, Gerry Read and King Midas Sound. In 2019, Arand released the "Alles" EP on Ali Asker's LIITHELI imprint, which focuses on promoting local talent from Estonia's capital. Arand's latest EP, "Aru" (2022), showcases his exploration of a new "Linki" format. In addition to his musical pursuits, Arand was also a host at the underground venue Ulme in Tallinn.
About the album „Child of the Internet”
The new album by experimental sound designer and electronic music producer Rando Arand takes the artist on a completely different path compared to the previously known dance music influenced deep and contemplative instrumental tracks. Featuring several notable guest artists, the album is a sizzling hot record that makes feet tapping and bodies grooving. On the artist’s most listener-friendly work to date, an impressive lineup of Estonian vocalists makes an appearance: Hyrr IV, the lead singer of the indie band Ouu; Jon Mikiver from Elephants from Neptune; actress Mirtel Pohla; alternative pop artist Kitty Florentine; queer artist Helgi Saldo; comedian Maiduk; and hobby musicians Maihe and David.
The conceptual album "Child of the Internet" is dedicated to young kids for whom the internet has been a defining part of growing up. Genre-wise, the album is very flexible, weaving through various musical chapters and styles with the help of numerous musical sketches, touching on both the comedic and the darker oddities that circulate online.
The album features scorchingly hot, electrified synth-funk jams with a nostalgic touch reminiscent of Prince ("Slidin in Yo DM’s", "Refresh"). Kitty Florentine delivers a sensual neo-soul ballad ("Just Scrolling"), filled with soft tones, soulful warmth, and a smooth groove. For more demanding listeners, the record also explores elements of chillwave, glitch, lo-fi hip-hop, techno, house, and breakbeat. Longer tracks and shorter interludes come together like a bouquet of favorite memes or a collection of countless open web browser tabs that we all keep running. At the same time, the album hints at the immense impact the internet has on our everyday lives.
Rando Arand’s latest studio album is an intriguing listen — perfect for enjoying alone with good headphones or as an ideal background soundtrack for a larger gathering with friends.
Der britische Synth-Zauberer James Holden und der polnische Klarinetten-Guru Waclaw Zimpel (Saagara, Shackleton) setzen ihre fruchtbare Zusammenarbeit mit dem glückseligen Eskapismus ihres grossartigen Albumdebüts fort: "The Universe Will Take Care Of You" ist ein zutiefst emotionales, warmes und flauschiges Vergnügen. Reiche Texturen und eine betörende Klangpalette bewegen sich frei zwischen idyllischen Pastoralen, eindringlichen Arpeggios und schimmernder Euphorie. Die spielerisch-experimentelle Herangehensweise von Krautrock-Vorfahren wie Harmonia, Cluster oder Eno & Fripp wird aufgegriffen, um ihren tiefsten Improvisationsdrang zu erforschen. Das Ergebnis ist die freudige Konvergenz zweier gleichgesinnter Meister ihres Fachs, die Violine, Schlagzeug, Lap-Steel-Gitarre und die indische Doppelrohr-Algoza-Flöte mit gewohnt-modularem Synthesizer und Klarinette verbinden.
180g White Vinyl LP.
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PHASE SHIFTING INDEX is a time capsule record of Jeremy Shaw's vast original artwork that includes audio excerpts, voiceover passages and music composed by There in Spirit and Konrad Black. Shaw's seven-channel video, sound and light installation-that premiered at Centre Pompidou in 2020-uses science fiction, documentary, visual effects and synchronisation to induce an ecstatic experience in narrative temporality. Each video details the belief systems of one of seven fictional subcultural groups spread across time that aspire to induce parallel realities that could redirect the evolution of the human species through embodied forms of ritual, ideology and movement. The vinyl release serves as a gathering of the piece's key audio elements, focussing on their importance to the engineering of the artwork and their stand-alone listening qualities. Side A of the record follows the dramaturgy of the artwork in full-swing, including audio segments from four of its five distinct chapters. Written by long time collaborators Konrad Black and Jeremy Shaw together as There in Spirit, "Cross- Temporal Sync" soundtracks the strobing peak of the installation at the moment when all seven disparate videos fall into a unified choreography in which every person on every screen performs the same ecstatic series of slow-motion movements. The pulsing, hypnotic dirge aligns with the locked choreography in mood and action, caught somewhere between ecstatic trance and somatic takeover. A steady sub line, clipped stabs and a swooping choral gasp harmonise with the dancers movements onscreen while restrained filters open slowly to reveal a submerged melody that builds in intensity towards the chaotic rupture of Black's "Mosh". Here the score breaks into digital shards as heard through analog bodies colliding and pixelating into each other. The dancers eventual dissolution into "Particles" sounds like the field recording of a disembodied neural cosmos. The B-side of the record contains a narrative outline edit of the artwork comprised of music, excerpts and pieces of narration from each video. Listeners can follow along in an accompanying thirty-six page booklet of full-bleed film stills documenting each of the seven groups as they move through the five chapter dramaturgy. Composer Konrad Black's authentically backwards-glancing production and sound design is as disparate as the groups represented on screen. From the bespoke-16mm-tribal-techno of "The Cyclical Culture" and retro-cyber-funk of the "Zero-Ones," to the VHSdark- wave of "The Violet Lux" and skewed vocal/piano minimalism of the "Quantum Modern," each group exists in its own custom-made world out-of-time. The record ends where it began, with the full sequence of "Ramping" playing out as each subcultural world begins to lose control, galvanise, sync, rupture, atomise and scatter throughout the universe, only to loop back into another inevitable beginning. Phase Shifting Index premiered at Centre Pompidou, Paris, in 2020 and has since been exhibited in nine international venues including ARoS, Denmark, MONA, Tasmania, MAC, Montreal and Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin
“I did this piano/Rhodes recording, played live, without overdubs. I believe your approach to sound could match very well these tracks….” That’s how Giovanni Di Domenico’s collaboration with Rutger Zuydervelt started, though the first seeds were planted when the duo did a short live improv together in 2019, and Giovanni joining Hydra Ensemble on stage in 2022.
Painting a Picture / Picture a painting is -as the title suggest- an album of two long-form pieces, swapping the working method for each - one takes Giovanni’s recordings and has Rutger processing and adding to it, while the other one started with Rutger creating its foundation (with manipulated sounds of the first piece), and Giovanni building upon it. This resulted in two meandering tracks that are clearly linked, like two sides of the same coin. The cover, a painting of an empty canvas, is made by Christiaan Kuitwaard. A beautiful and ultimately fitting visual addition to this mysterious release.
Repress of 2018’s classic compilation from Brownswood.
A primer on London’s bright-burning young jazz scene, this new compilation brings together a collection of some of its sharpest talents. A set of nine newly-recorded tracks, We Out Here captures a moment where genre markers matter less than raw, focused energy. Looking at the album’s running order, it could easily serve as a name-checking exercise for some of London’s most-tipped and hardworking bands of the past couple of years. Recorded across three long, fruitful days in a North West London studio, the crossover between each of the groups speaks to the close-knit circles which make up the scene.
Surveying the way that London’s jazz-influenced music had spread outside of its usual spaces in recent years, this album bottles up some of the vital ideas emanating from that burgeoning movement. Giving a platform to a scene where mutual cooperation and a DIY spirit are second-nature, it’s a window into the wide-eyed future of London’s musical underground.
Ubiquitous, much-lauded saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings is the project’s musical director. His own recent projects span from South Africa-connected, spiritually-minded jazz players Shabaka and the Ancestors to Sons of Kemet, who match diasporically-connected compositions with viscerally-direct live shows. His entry on the album, ‘Black Skin, Black Masks’, is typically difficult-to-define: with an off-kilter, shifting rhythmic backbone, repeated phrases – mirrored between clarinet and bass clarinet – shape the track with an alluring hue. His input ties together a deft, genre-agnostic sensibility that’s shared through all the players on the record.
Theon Cross – who’s also part of Sons of Kemet with Hutchings – starts his track, ‘Brockley’, with the solo, distinctive low rumble of his tuba. Winding and mesmeric, it sees tuba and sax lines winding together in rhythmic and melodic parallels. Ezra Collective – whose drummer and bandleader Femi Koleoso has toured with Pharaohe Monch – run a tight, Afrobeat-tipped rhythm on ‘Pure Shade’, with the final third changing gear into a melodic, momentous closing stretch.
Joe Armon-Jones, whose ludicrous chops on the piano have seen him touring with the likes of Ata Kak, showcases earworm-like, insistent motifs on ‘Go See’, balanced with a playful, improvisatory approach with room for ad-libbing and solos a-plenty. Taking a softer tact than many of the other entries, Kokoroko – whose guitarist Oscar Jerome has been making waves with his solo material – spin a lyrical, steady-paced meditation on ‘Abusey Junction’, matching chanted vocals with gently-played guitar.
Nodding to spiritual jazz influences, Maisha’s ‘Inside The Acorn’ is a wandering, explorative rumination, balancing delicate washes of piano and percussion with sharp interplay between flute and bass clarinet. In contrast, Nubya Garcia’s ‘Once’ is taut and carefully-poised, her tenor sax guiding a carefully-built energy to an explosive conclusion. And finally, Triforce’s ‘Walls’ is a performance in two parts: starting with Mansur Brown’s languorous, lyrical guitar, the second half switches up to a low-slung, g-funk-tipped groove.
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Released in 2015, Adventure is the debut studio album by French electronic music producer Madeon. Fusing electro-pop, house, and synth-pop, the album showcases Madeon’s signature polished production and vibrant soundscapes. Featuring guest vocals from artists like Passion Pit, Dan Smith of Bastille, and Kyan, Adventure blends infectious melodies with emotional depth. Standout tracks like ""Imperium"", ""You’re On"", ""Pay No Mind"" & ""Home"" highlight Madeon’s talent for combining electronic precision with pop sensibility. Critically acclaimed and commercially successful, Adventure solidified Madeon as a leading force in modern electronic music. Its cohesive flow, creative production, and emotive energy make it a defining release of 2010s EDM and synth-pop. A must-listen for fans of genre-blending electronic music with a cinematic touch. Adventure is available as 10th anniversary edition of 1500 individually numbered copies on blue coloured vinyl.
‘Well let me tell you a little something and it goes like this
Those New York Doll boys they were always looking for a kiss’
Those New York Dolls
The group that started it all back in those pre-punk days. The New York Dolls had it all, style, sass and the tunes to back it up. But as the title of their second and last studio album incurred they were simply `Too Much Too Soon’. For outside of New York and L.A. their humour and drag look was all too much for the mainstream listening public, so they imploded. But a few other bands were taking notes and by softening the edges they took over the world and as the title track of Mal-One’s latest 12” release points out;
‘But who wants a thrill without a little risk
I think we’ll just leave all that up to bands like Kiss’
Those New York Dolls
So Mal-One thought he ‘d better pay homage and let the kids know how great they were.
So we hope you enjoy this tribute to those New York Dolls that make you wanna go…
‘Yeah Yeah Yeah’.
Neo Gibson, born in Virginia and based in New York City, records, performs, and produces as 7038634357. This numerical alias, under which Gibson has been releasing work since 2016, offers a window into the careful ambivalences of the musical project. It conjures the impersonal_the opacity and randomness of data, a number that is hard to remember or even say out loud_while also suggesting a direct line of communication with the artist, down to an area code indexing their biography. 7038634357 uses a restricted palette to achieve music that is formally precise and emotionally direct. Their digital-native approach to production, in which frank melodies cross paths with heavy distortion, contains traces of both trance's maximalist arcs and a songwriterly intimacy. Expressive details may appear submerged or abraded, subjected to a canny sense of dynamics and textural specificity. Waterfall Horizon, Gibson's second vinyl record with Blank Forms Editions under the moniker 7038634357, was written for live performance and workshopped over successive shows during their 2022 European tour. Here, hallmarks of their earlier, studio-crafted recordings_digital distortion that obfuscates their lyrics and a slow-burning ambience_are noticeably pared back. Instead, Waterfall Horizon takes on a pop inflection, adopting more traditional lyric scaffolds so that the interstices from verse to chorus or track to track can flourish within their limited tonal range.Across recordings and performances, Gibson activates wide-ranging mechanisms of audience connection: from the relative anonymity of internet platforms to live experiments with the spatial effects of amplification. They have a particular interest in site-specific performances in non-musical spaces, and have performed in a variety of contexts, including the mezzanine of the West 4th Street subway station in New York City and INA GRM/Radio France's Présences électronique festival. Under their own name, Gibson has maintained a longstanding collaboration with the artist Charles Stobbs, working primarily with FM transmission and techniques derived from the early-seventeenth-century English tradition of change-ringing bells. The first 7038634357 vinyl record, Neo Seven, was released on Blank Forms Editions in 2023; previous releases include self-released cassettes and CD-Rs, as well as a pair of EPs on Genome 6.66 Mbp (2018, 2019).
Head back to the floor with this brand-new 2LP compilation featuring 42 more of the world’s most remarkable Northern Soul tunes.
Expand your collection and freshen up your dancing shoes with this must-have sequel including none other than the incredible Stevie Wonder, Dusty Springfield, Freda Payne, Robert Knight, The Supremes, Major Lance and the all-time classic duet between Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell, Ain't No Mountain High Enough.
DJ Koze - with his friendly and sometimes slightly melancholic take on the world - is one of the greatest auteurs of club music today, and one of the few internationally active DJs who dares to make music that has relevance beyond the dance floor. During the 70-minute journey on his DJ Kicks - the 50th edition - Kosi
Kos manages to establish a uniform color even though genres alternate in a way that is rarely heard on a mix CD: the stripped down hip hop of Madlib, brutalist Berghain techno, timeless songwriting, floating indie-pop and outlier numbers that oscillate between absurdity andmelancholy. Koze's disregard for the stylistic yoke presents him with an immense challenge. Hence, almost all the tracks are more or less edited, and one is fully rhymed (Session Victim: Hyuwee).Koze rambles on here himself: "I didn't want to kick around ophisticated knowledge, but rather try and weave together some good gems that would make sense to anyone, even people who aren't necessarily music nerds". But this is blabbing that you can count on, also because he approaches the term "mix" from a different angle and doesn't even try to make something fit that doesn't fit: "During the day, I don't need to hear anything that's mixed on the beat. I put the focus on making sure that it works harmoniously - the idea is more to create the impression of a radio show, like people such as John Peel did so uniquely. There is a giant cosmos of music and it runs through my filter".
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SWEARING AT MOTORISTS haben einen langen Weg hinter sich, seit der Name 1994 auf Plakaten für eine Fake-Band erschien Die hingen auf mysteriöse Weise in Plattenläden und Musiklokalen in Dayton, Ohio, Ein paar Monate nachdem die Plakate auf auftauchten kritzelte Dave Doughman den Namen auf eine Kassette mit homerecordings, die er an Freunde verschenkte, und 1995 war die Band dann offiziell geboren. Ende der 90er Jahre veröffentlichten S@M eine Reihe von 7"-EPs bei verschiedenen Labels, und nachdem sie wiederholt von John Peel gespielt wurden und die Presse weltweit positiv über sie berichtet hatte, erhielt die Band einen Vertrag mit dem damals neuen Label Secretly Canadian. Sie veröffentlichten 2 EPs und 4 LPs auf Secretly Canadian, darunter Number Seven Uptown aus dem Jahr 2000 und This Flag Signals Goodbye aus dem Jahr 2002, die beide in den Jahren ihrer Veröffentlichung vom MOJO Magazine zum Underground Album of the Year" gewählt wurden. Swearing At Motorists zogen 2005 nach Berlin, Deutschland, und veröffentlichten im folgenden Jahr ihre letzte LP für Secretly Canadian, Last Night Becomes This Morning, bevor sie leise in der nicht enden wollenden Berliner Nacht verschwanden... 8 Jahre später war die Band plötzlich in Hamburg wieder aufgetaucht, mit einem neuen Album: "While Laughing, The Joker Tells The Truth", das 2014 auf Anton Newcombes Label A Recordings Ltd. erschien. Co-produziert von Dave und Rick McPhail (von Tocotronic), erzählt das Album die Geschichten dieser verlorenen" 8 Jahre im klassischen Motorists-Stil. Der Autor Camden Joy, vielleicht eine weitere Underground-Figur der 90er/00er Jahre, beschreibt es am besten: "Like Iggy Pop's great lost Nashville record or the legendary demos for the Strokes masterpiece that never was, this recording is full of catchy courage, significant low notes, bedroom rhythms, hooks, and so on, all of which make for an impossible amount of pleasure. This Swearing At effort towers heads and squirrels above whatever that was you were just listening to. I see why Rolling Stone gave it five stars." - Camden Joy 11 Jahre später ist die Band in Hamburg erneut aufgetaucht, aus einer weiteren Auszeit und mit einem neuen Album, das im Herbst 2025 über BB*ISLAND erscheinen soll. Vor der Veröffentlichung stellen wir euch das Album von 2014 noch einmal, oder zum allerersten Mal vor. Vielleicht lag Camden Joy genau richtig. Zu gut, um vergessen und vergriffen zu sein. Das Beständige an Swearing At Motorists sind ihre Auszeiten als Band. Alles andere ist Bonus, aber das ist natürlich der beste Teil. "...While Laughing...demontrates Doughman's unerring abilitity to turn autobiographical minutiae and emotional turmoil into exquisitely heartfelt rock'n'roll poetry. From the warmly familiar powerpop chug of Groundhog Day (Damn The Piper) and Great Actress, to the tearjerker wistfulness of Wrote You A Letter and acoustic closer It's Love That Chooses You, this is classic Swearing At Motorists throughout...." - Andrew Carden/ MOJO
A cosmic fusion of deep funk, interstellar jazz, and avant-garde soundscapes, On Jupiter stands as one of Sun Ra"s most iconic releases. Recorded in 1979 during a prolific period at Variety Arts Studios in New York, this album captures the Arkestra at the height of their creative powers, blending futuristic improvisation with infectious rhythms and otherworldly textures.
Johnny and Robert began work on the album in the first weeks of the pandemic, wanting to make music that sang of those dangerous, disorienting spring days; when birdsong was brighter –– and the sense of bewilderment more powerful –– than any of us had known before. They drew inspiration in part from The Epic of Gilgamesh, the oldest surviving work of world literature; an epic poem from Ancient Mesopotamia that contains the earliest version of the Flood Myth. To Johnny and Robert, Gilgamesh resonated eerily with the present moment –– and it catalysed their song-writing. For Gilgamesh is a story of friendship, love, loss, grief, bad governance and good dreaming; of natural disaster and environmental crisis. It also contains the first recorded act of human destruction of the natural world: when Gilgamesh and Enkidu travel to the Sacred Cedar Wood, slay the guardian spirit of the forest, and cut down the trees with their axes, thereby bringing catastrophe upon themselves. Johnny and Robert wrote the album between March 2020 and February 2021, during a year in which we all wandered unsure of our path, lost in the cedar wood. The songs were composed in large part as a correspondence, through a back-and-forth of notebook pages, voice-recordings and WhatsApp-messages, at a time when lockdowns made meeting in person impossible. The first eight songs were recorded in an off-grid cottage deep in a Hampshire forest, with the sounds of chainsaws felling trees drifting in through the windows along with the birdsong. The result is an album at once urgent and ancient, which fuses poetry, landscape, myth and music into something unique. These are songs that ring with hope, love and sadness –– and one need not know anything about The Epic of Gilgamesh to be touched by them.
Listening to CD3, I'm reminded of how the Vincent Over The Sink record '22 Coloured Bull Terriers' made me feel all those years ago. There's a free ranging quality to it.
It feels calmly capable of doing whatever it wants. It feels mysterious and self-generating, almost aloof to the humans who made it. I adored that record; it cascaded into so many epiphanies.
I don't want to implicate Cooper and David's music in any fleeting desire towards currency, but listening to this CD3 record over the last few weeks has felt weirdly, thematically correct. There's an echo-ey kind of referentiality to it. Not to particular styles of music, but to the recently elapsed histories those styles of music evoke. It's something that Th Blisks kind of gestures towards, but which this project seems to own entirely.
It's a kind of melted reconfiguration of popular (occasionally popular-on-the-fringes) styles. These familiar sounds are reconfigured and muddied. Hindsight frames the sources in an almost primordial light, to the extent that they feel like folk art.
Glyphted and Franzbranntwein sound like pop songs stripped to their bones and distorted, as if the styles they vaguely recall are as old as time. It's a stunningly weird effect. Songs like The Duchess and Farmhand exacerbate this impression. The record comes to feel yearningly ahistorical. But in a way that feels pertinent?
It might just be where my head is at, but the implacable nature of the record feels important to me, somehow. It's something far, far north of post-modern but... ancient too. - Shaun Prescott
Havukruunu's debut album HAVULINNAAN reissued in June Svart Records is proud to bring Havukruunu's 2015 debut album HAVULINNAAN back to the market on June 6th, 2025. HAVULINNAAN is filled to the brim with raw, bleak, unforgiven heavy metal mixed with spells from the very depths of the misty Finnish forests. Havukruunu's Stefa had this to say about the upcoming reissue: "INTO THE CONIFEROUS CASTLE….. Ten years ago, we didst unleash an abomination of immortal-worship, improvised guitar solos and a first glance of a certain type of spiritual freedom, the very first full-length Havukruunu album HAVULINNAAN and thus began our search. Experience our then meandering worry anew, through this humble, slightly remastered reissue through Svart records." HAVULINNAAN is available on Svart exclusive Black & White Marble vinyl, limited Clear & Blue Marble vinyl, classic Black vinyl, CD, and Cassette Tape editions.
This is what you get when an emcee/producer is fed on a diet of abstract hip-hop, Southeast Asian samples, and Taoist folklore. Together with the Clementi Sound Appreciation Club (a five-piece band of up-and-coming musicians schooled in jazz from the local scene in Singapore), Mary Sue melts samples with live instrumentation on 'Porcelain Shield, Paper Sword.' At the core of the album is the tale of a time-traveling oracle, struggling to find meaning in the modern world-where ancient wisdom feels fragile, and truth is ever-shifting. A reinterpretation of idioms shapes its journey, where spiritual pursuits feel performative, and where the weight of the past clashes with an uncertain future. The music mirrors this tension: phrases of Gamelan music dissolve into smoky brass, spectral melodies unravel over off-kilter drums, and time bends through layered textures. 'Porcelain Shield, Paper Sword' is both a reckoning and a dream, where echoes of the past find new life in the chaos of now. A porcelain shield shatters on impact; a paper sword folds before it cuts. It's about the constant, fragile push-and-pull between aesthetics and money, tradition and progress, meaning and spectacle. "Like the oracle, we're all stuck in a world where spiritual longing gets tangled up with consumerism, where authenticity is blurred by performance, and where finding real meaning feels shakier than ever," rapper and producer Mary Sue explains. "'Porcelain Shield, Paper Sword' lives in that field of tension. The album drifts between beauty and collapse, truth and illusion, and past and present, without ever landing on solid ground."
Moving Day captures André 3000 in a very important time. Before New Blue Sun was recorded, filmmaker Dexter Navy films André in Venice Beach, California. The day happened to be when André was moving out of his home and into a new place. The score for Moving Day is a weaving of field recordings from the date of filming, an impromptu Q&A by Navy to André, and post studio recording performed forward then backward while watching the film. The additional track ‘Tunnels of Egypt’ is an unreleased New Blue Sun sessions recording. A x3 trk, 31 min piece of work on Ltd Black LP Vinyl. Marketing activity.
Man singt und es wird: Im Zuge eines Zusammenbruchs hat Max Gruber den Soloartist Drangsal gekillt und die Band Drangsal gegründet. Am Ende des Tunnels steht das im Juni 2025 erscheinende Album, Aus keiner meiner Brücken die in Asche liegen ist je ein Phönix emporgestiegen.
Seit über zehn Jahren sichelt Max Gruber mittlerweile die Zick-Zack-Schneise Drangsal durch die deutsche Poplandschaft: Harieschaim aus 2016, Zores aus 2018 und zuletzt Exit Strategy – das ihm 2021 Platz 6 der Albumcharts bescherte – erdachte Gruber größtenteils im Alleingang. Und dann war da noch etwas nach seiner Exit Strategy: Ein Zusammenbruch. Max Gruber wusste nicht mehr, ob und wenn ja, wie er weiter Drangsal machen will, veröffentlichte im Ullstein-Verlag sein literarisches Debüt »Doch«, gründete Die Benjamins, holte so gemeinsam mit Charlotte Brandi, Thomas Götz und Julian Knoth Hans-A-Plast Frontfrau Annette Benjamin aus dem Ruhestand und reaktivierte unlängst das 2016 mit Stella Sommer gegründete Duo Die Mausis.
Und doch, von innen wie von außen, immer wieder die Frage nach einem neuen Drangsal-Album. Wenn es denn überhaupt nochmal eines geben soll, erkannte Gruber, musste er die Arbeitsweise, auf deren Grundlage Drangsal-Songs entstehen, fundamental verändern. Auf alles Ringen folgte, was unvermeidbar war: Der Reset. Max Gruber hat den Soloartist Drangsal gekillt und die dreiköpfige Band Drangsal gegründet – zusammen mit zwei Mitmusikern, die ihn aus seinen Gewohnheiten gelöst haben: Lukas Korn und Marvin Holley.
Erstgenannter ist Gitarrist und Produzent, spielt in der Band Lyschko, produzierte zuletzt das Album silber von Mia Morgan und hat seit 2020 als Bassist an der Drangsal-Liveband partizipiert. Zweiterer studierte Jazz- und klassische Gitarre sowie Komposition in Stuttgart und Wien, stand mit Sam Vance-Law und Fil Bo Riva auf der Bühne und arrangierte für Film und Theater. Lukas Korn und Marvin Holley haben dafür gesorgt, dass sich die zentrale Figur im Kosmos Drangsal dreiteilt.
Das Liedermachen in Bandkonstellation ließ alle Angst platzen: Getragen von Euphorie nahmen Gruber, Holley und Korn ab Ende 2022 etliche Songskizzen und damit den Unterbau eines siebzehnteiligen Albums auf. Nach Kreativurlauben an der polnischen Grenze und Ostsee stand eine von Max Rieger produzierte und von Lukas Korn Co-produzierte vierte Drangsal-LP. Sie trägt den schwergängigen Titel Aus keiner meiner Brücken die in Asche liegen ist je ein Phönix emporgestiegen und erscheint im Juni 2025. Gruber, Holley und Korn haben sich auf das Credo so wenig wie möglich, so viel wie nötig verständigt – und dadurch einen Umbruch im Klangkosmos Drangsals manifestiert, der völlig neue Dynamiken mit sich bringt. Aus keiner meiner Brücken die in Asche liegen ist je ein Phönix emporgestiegen hält Leerstellen aus, in seinem Zentrum stehen, statt Synthesizer, Akustikgitarren, die immer wieder an der Grenze zu Blues und Jazz wandeln. Wo speziell auf Exit Strategy noch überzuckerter Synth-Pop preschte, ist nun Klavier zu hören; Orgel, Klavinet und Cembalo; Xylophon, Violinen und Celli; von Ralph Heidel gespielte Querflöten und Saxophone.
Dazwischen drei Episoden, in denen sich Gospel Chöre und Technobeats breitmachen. Max Rieger hat die drei dazu motiviert, Echtheit, auch Imperfektion im Moment der Aufnahme zuzulassen – und großen Anteil daran, dass »Aus keiner meiner Brücken die in Asche liegen ist je ein Phönix emporgestiegen« ein realistisches Abbild des Trios bietet. Die Stimmung? Dagegen eher ein Wechselbad. Max Gruber singt von Selbstentfremdung, vom Für und Wider des Stillstands, vom Sichhingeben und Sichwegschmeißen – mal auf deutsch, mal auf englisch, mal zart, mal angewidert. Grubers Stimme klingt, nach einer klassischen Gesangsausbildung, die der Einunddreißigjährige angetreten hat, zielbewusster. Umarmungen Marke »Ich hab von der Musik geträumt und Inkomplett treffen auf Gewitterwolken à la Mein Eid und dem Sophia-Blenda-Feature Mein Mo(nu)ment. Entlang rigoroser Entkernung und Hexenjagd geht es Bergab – für dich, für mich, für Max Gruber sowieso. Er ist über weite Teile der Platte hinweg auf der Flucht vor sich selbst, den alten Geistern, dem leidigen Wachzustand: Wär’ ich doch bloß nimmermehr erwacht, ich schliefe in ewigem Glück. Gruber sucht und sucht: Nach innerem Frieden, nach Gnade, nach unverbranntem Boden, nach neuen Versionen seiner Selbst – und das vergeblich. Immerhin scheinen Erinnerungen mit der Zeit zu verschwimmen: Grubers Worte – zu sich und zur Welt – klingen im hinteren Teil der Platte sanfter, vergebender, resümierender. Ein Schlüsselmoment? Das von der Schauspielerin Rosa Lembeck eingesprochene, Monolog artig formulierte Klanggedicht Rosa – Es ist so: Man singt und es wird.
Space-surf-psych-rock quartet Japanese Television’s album ‘Automata Exotica’ has been remixed by invited friends and peers; including Goat Fool from GOAT, Factory Floor’s Gabe Gurnsey, and Edgar Breau from cult band Simply Saucer. Informed by UFO encounters, ritualism, robots, Northern Soul, and nuclear weapons, ‘Automata Exotica’ was released in March 2024 and was described as “Heavy but also joyful” by The Quietus, “A fuzzy blast of space-surf energy”in Shindig and “A remarkable and unique proposition” by Louder Than War.
Rather than having been transformed out of all recognition, “reimagined” is a more apt term to describe this new version of ‘Automata Exotica’. With the album’s eight tracks presented via considered, alternative mixes with pertinent sonic application, it hangs together incredibly coherently - albeit as a wild and feverish psychedelic experience.
JTV toured with GOAT while writing ‘Automata Exotica’, with the fat fuzz tones and extended middle percussion section of ‘Typhoon Reggae Police’ heavily influenced by their time watching and learning from side stage. Starting life as an uneasy mixture of scratchy 60s garage rock and 70s Afghan psych folk, Goat Fool from GOAT ripped the song apart and stitched it back together. Recognisable but weird and uncanny, it’s a stripped down, oppressive, shimmering voodoo nightmare.
“We used to go and see Gabe’s weird, excellent band Factory Floor playing dark little club nights in Shoreditch years ago and marvel at the racket” says JTV. “Gabe’s been a long time collaborator of ours, in fact he’s the only person to not only do more than one remix for us, but has featured on every remix release we’ve done. Our most ecstatic, cathartic song, ‘Tabadaboum’ was the perfect match for Gabe - the motorik krautrock bassline fits right in with the pneumatic grind of his vintage drum machine loops and synth flurries”.
It's hard to measure the impact cult 1970s Canadian space rock proto punk psych band Simply Saucer had on the formation of Japanese Television. The band reached out to Edgar Breau - the band’s founding member and guitarist - who guitarist Tim says was “really generous with his time, and really kind to an overly keen and slightly awkward Simply Saucer mega fan. It's a real honor to have him playing guitar on one of our records”. His cosmic reimagining of ‘Golden Birds’ layers on the delay, reverb and screaming guitars, launching the track into outer space.
‘Automata Exotica (Remixed)' is set for release on 6th June 2025 on limited edition LP and digital formats. Japanese Television tour in Europe through March and April. The album is released by cult underground label Tip Top Recordings (Jim Wallis, Mandrake Handshake, Pearl & The Oysters), run by Ben Rimmer and David Warn.
Marconi Union, one of the most influential names in contemporary ambient and electronic music, announce their twelfth studio album, The Fear of Never Landing, set for release 6th June via Just Music. The news is paired with the release of first single Eight Miles High Alone, out 20th March on all major streaming platforms.
Known for their ability to craft cinematic, immersive soundscapes that blur the lines between ambient, electronic, and experimental music, the Manchester-based duo once again push the boundaries of sonic exploration. The Fear of Never Landing takes us on a dynamic journey that’s atmospheric, diaphanous and never short of mesmerising. While the new record is certainly infused with a sense of hope, there’s more than a soupçon of anxiety too, as the title suggests.
A 55-minute odyssey presented as one seamless piece divided into nine movements, they transcribe the nexus of modern living into a mostly wordless odyssey. The album encapsulates Marconi Union’s ability to translate the complexities of the human experience into sound, all while maintaining a stunning sense of cohesion.
While the music feels effortless, the creative process was anything but. During the two years it took to complete the album, members Jamie Crossley and Duncan Meadows faced creative struggles that even led them to briefly question the band’s future. A pivotal moment came when they performed a live soundtrack to the 1975 skateboarding film Downhill Motion, rekindling their connection to atmospheric composition. By testing new material live and returning to their roots, Marconi Union redefined their creative process, leading to some of their most emotionally impactful work to date.
“We’ve always made atmospheric music but we had started to lose that aspect. Other than some rough ideas, we had no sense of what we were doing anymore, a kind of musical wilderness. Eventually a couple of things fell into place, and it was like, ‘Ah, okay.”
With a foundation to build upon, they went back to basics and decided to take their time going forwards. “We tried out a few new tracks live which gave us the opportunity to see what worked and what didn’t. We've never given ourselves that luxury before.”
The first track to be shared, Eight Miles High Alone, is a mesmerizing sequencer-driven track that builds an immersive, atmospheric soundscape. Its hypnotic pulses and intricate layers evoke a sense of solitude and weightlessness, perfectly capturing the album’s blend of tension and introspection. “Eight Miles High Alone was the first piece that we managed to complete and helped to inform our approach to the rest of the album.”
Formed in Manchester in 2003, their debut album, Under Wires and Searchlights (2003), introduced their signature sound, but it was their 2011 release of Weightless that brought international acclaim. Developed in collaboration with a sound therapist, Weightless was scientifically recognised as “the world’s most relaxing song”, praised for its ability to reduce anxiety and heart rates. With over 900 million streams and widespread coverage across media, the track remains a cultural phenomenon.
Over the years, Marconi Union has continued to evolve, producing critically acclaimed albums such as Signals (2021), Ghost Stations (2016), and Tokyo+ (2017). Their work has been hailed for its emotional resonance and sonic depth, with The Quietus noting their ability to find “beauty in the bleakest places” and The Sunday Times describing them as “amongst today’s most talented musicians.”
Beyond their studio albums, Marconi Union has collaborated with visual artists, provided soundtracks for installations, and remixed notable acts like Max Richter and Vök. Their invitation by Brian Eno to perform at Norway’s Punkt Festival further cemented their reputation as innovators in the ambient music sphere.
With The Fear of Never Landing, Marconi Union once again showcases their unmatched ability to create immersive soundscapes that resonate deeply. The album reaffirms their position as masters of atmosphere and emotional storytelling, making it an essential addition to their storied catalog.
Brand new studio album from BBC Radio 2 Folk Award winning singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist, Sam Kelly - His second album for Navigator, the first, the hugely acclaimed 'Pretty Peggy' (with The Lost Boys) in 2017 - available on CD & Ltd Edition Vinyl.
'Dreamers Dawn' features Sam's signature eclectic arrangements of traditional folk songs, seamlessly interspersed with stunning original music from the pen of Sam and his Lost Boys band collaborator and banjo virtuoso, Jamie Francis. The album takes the listener on an eclectic journey, all the way from fantastical moonlit adventures of privateering and poaching, to introspective reflection & solemnity, as centuries old folk songs sit alongside modern themes of mental health and exploration of the inner self.
Sam and Jamie have gained a reputation as one of the most innovative and important partnerships to come out of the UK folk scene in recent years, and 'Dreamers Dawn' is a suitably groundbreaking addition to their impressive portfolio.
Collection' puts together Italia 90's first three EPs (2017-2019) originally released on very limited cassette runs. A chance to hear the South London radical post-punk purveyors at their rawest and most intense. Think The Fall, PIL, Uk Subs meets Wire with high doses of agit-pop and razor wire guitars.
Italia 90: "This LP is a collection of the three EPs we released on cassette from 2017 to 2019. They were our first three releases and they sketch the development as a band in its early years. We released these EPs ourselves and each cassette had a very limited run of only 50 copies, so we’re really pleased to have them remastered and available on vinyl for a wider audience.
We hope that some of these tracks will be granted a new lease of life and will be fresh discoveries for people that enjoyed our debut album, Living Human Treasure, but who haven’t heard our earlier work. There are also some tracks here that we’d rather forget all about: it’s fair to say that on this LP you can hear some of our best and worst music. We’ll let you work out which is which. In the interests of full disclosure, it’s all here."
